


The Lab Assistant

by Lady_Layla



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: A huge troll, Angst, Bucky wants help from Clint, Darcy approves, Darcy wins a bet with Natasha, F/M, Fluff, He gets Darcy instead, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, James Buchanan Barnes is a troll, Just Steve being an ass, Mild hints of, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, The fake plants, between Clint and Darcy, but he gets shut down quick, it works, it's a thing, just an inside joke, mild romance, nothing crazy, poor steve, steve/natasha - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-07
Updated: 2017-02-08
Packaged: 2018-09-22 16:50:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9616631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Layla/pseuds/Lady_Layla
Summary: The Winter Soldier breaks into the apartment of Clinton Francis Barton, Codname: Hawkeye, looking for help.He gets Darcy instead.Close enough





	1. The Apartment in Bed-Stuy

**Author's Note:**

> The last two parts of this story came to me in the shower yesterday so I wrote a fic about it. Thanks to Evil_Bunny_King for being an awesome beta.

It's early morning when the Winter Soldier breaks into the apartment in Bed-Stuy he's been scouting for a week and a half.

It takes him a few minutes to do surveillance, but when he finally hears footsteps coming up the stairs outside he's ready.

All of his weapons are arranged on the table in front of him and he's on the couch in a very grossly misconstrued pose that's supposed to look relaxed.

Months ago, after reading up on the alien attacks in New York and then in London, he'd decided to surrender himself to one Clinton Francis Barton codename: Hawkeye. Threat level: 8.

He'd quickly and greedily stored all of SHIELD/HYDRA's leaked files on a small little disk he'd stolen from Hydra. After many, many late nights reading he'd picked Barton. Almost exclusively due to the issue with Loki...and of course Natalia.

So, here he is, memories coming back in bits and pieces, asking for help in the only way he knows how.

At this point in his life, the Soldier, formerly known as James B. Barnes, also "Bucky" is relatively sure that almost nothing could surprise him.

The young woman who walks through the door of Hawkeye's apartment, however, is a rare exception and everything in him freezes when she enters.

She seems to spot him at the same moment and mirrors his frozen posture. After she spends a full minute squinting at him, she continues shutting the door, locking it, and goes about her business, ignoring him completely.

* * *

Darcy squints at the dude sitting on Clint's couch and for a second is pissed that Hawkass didn't tell her he was having guests. Then, the face clicks in her mind and she's sure Clint has no idea he's even there. Muttering to herself, she continues into the apartment, making sure to lock the door behind herself. There are some creepy people living in Clint's building and while she's sure he wouldn't have let them in if they were really bad, she's not about to take chances.

Clint and Nat had gotten called out on a mission in the middle of the night and she'd woken up to the usual text asking if she could water his plants, so that's what she does.

After a few minutes the guy on the couch speaks up, his voice rough and cracking, "I--uh. I think those are fake?"

Darcy continues watering the last plant before she turns to him and grins.

"They are."

"Then, why?"

"It's a thing. Birdbrain doesn't like his place looking empty, so I come over sometimes, stay for a while, water the plants."

"Oh."

She waits, but that seems all he wants to say for the minute so she heads into the kitchen and starts making breakfast.

"You want something, Barnes?" She calls over her shoulder and almost drops the pan she's using for the eggs when his voice comes from behind her.

"You...you know me?"

Darcy winces and turns around.

"Kind of? But, no not really."

He blinks at her.

"I mean, I know who you are, but we've never met. I work with Dr. Jane Foster."

* * *

"I work with Dr. Jane Foster."

The Soldier closes his eyes for a minute, searching the vast files of his memory before pulling up everything associated with Foster and finds her quickly.

Lewis, Darcy A. Age: 27. Formerly a student a Culver and intern/assistant for Dr. Foster now employed by Stark Industries as a Lab Manager. Civilian. Threat Level: 4, maybe 5 with the addition of her taser.

He opens his eyes to find that she's gone back to making scrambled eggs and he thinks about her question: does he want something to eat?

He's sure he could eat, he could usually eat, but does he want too?

"Yes."

He doesn't realize he's spoken until she flashes him another grin over her shoulder and grabs more eggs out of the fridge.

As she continues cooking, the Soldier wonders why she isn't more afraid of him. Other than the brief surprise she showed at the beginning of their interaction, she's been acting like it's normal for him to be here.

Suddenly, she’s sliding a plate piled high with scrambled eggs in front of him and seating herself across the table.

She doesn’t even give him a second to be suspicious of the food, as she stabs her fork right in the middle and shoves the eggs into her mouth. After a minute he follows suit and they eat in silence.

* * *

“So, what are you doing here?”

The silence has literally been killing her and she had to say something. Although, she probably could have picked something better.

Barnes looks at her for a minute and shrugs.

“I wanted his help.”

“Clint’s?”

He nods.

Well, if anyone’s going to know how to deal with being brainwashed, it would be Clint.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, buddy. Clint and Nat got called away on a mission, return date unknown.”

Darcy watches his face fall slightly before he schools it back into a blank mask and she knows she’s going to do something crazy.

“You can stay here though.”

Yep. There it is.

“I’m sure Clint wouldn’t care, and besides, it’ll really help to have someone here all the time while he’s gone. I think the mob wants the building back and if they decided to take over you’d be better at handling it then I would.”

He’s frowning at her and she starts to clean up while he’s thinking it over.

* * *

“Okay.”

He answers as she sticking the dishes in the rack to dry and she turns to give him another smile.

The Soldier can’t remember the last time someone smiled this much in his presence, although he thinks it might have been during the war. He thinks the person smiling might have been Steve.

“Awesome, do you have a phone?”

She holds out her hand and just waits for him to hand the device over. It takes him longer than it should, but she doesn’t seem to mind.

When she returns it to him she’s plugged in what he assumes is her number under the name DL.

Smart.

The Winter Soldier has no known associates with the initials DL, so no one would connect her.

She gathers her things and leaves with a quick wave and an, “I’ll be back in a few days. Text me if you need anything.”

The Winter Soldier formerly James Barnes finds out quickly that he doesn’t need to need anything.

Just because she isn’t in his presence doesn’t mean Darcy Lewis stays silent.

She checks up on him occasionally the rest of the first day, accepting his one word answers and even telling him about a 1-10 scale he can use if he doesn’t want to talk.

That night she texts him directions on how to turn the painting on the wall around so he can get to the TV and also tells him where Clint’s laptop is. Well, his non-classified use one at any rate.

She spends the next few days checking in, not seeming to mind that she’s mostly having a one-sided conversation.

When he finally sends her a full sentence she seems excited.

‘ _I’m not used to sitting around. Bored.’_

‘ _I’ve got an idea that I’ve been working on.’_

He doesn’t hear from her again, aside from short check-ins, for the rest of the day.

But she’s there bright and early the next morning, grinning at him.

“You liked science fiction growing up, right?”

The Soldier tilts his head and considers the few pre-war memories that have come back.

“Yes.”

“Awesome. How would you feel about coming to work with me?”

* * *

Darcy’s expecting it when Barnes blanches and glares at her.

“In a lab at Stark’s tower?”

“Well, yeah. But, I can promise Jane’s lab isn’t anything like you’d expect. Look.”

She hands him her phone and presses play on the screen so he can watch the video tour she’d made of the lab yesterday.

In all honesty, it’s a mess. One side of the room is a large glass wall, that Jane’s filled with marker scribblings and Jarvis was kind enough to make opaque so the writing shows up. When it’s normal and not covered in markings (so the day they moved in) you can see Bruce’s lab on the other side. There are a few tables that are cluttered with paper.

Darcy points to one.

“That’s my desk.”

In the video Jane is sitting at her desk, head buried under papers and the recording of Darcy whispers that she’s asleep.

The tour continues to the other side of the lab with a couch, a small kitchenette and the emergency shower.

It ends when Thor shows up to collect Jane. He waves at the Darcy filming and she gives a thumbs up in frame.

“See, nothing scary about that,” she says as Barnes hands the phone back to her, still looking unconvinced.

“I’d be recognized.”

“Ha.”

Darcy smirks. This is what she’d been waiting for and she pulls her masterpiece out of her pocket.

Several hours of bugging and manipulating Tony had resulted in this.

Barnes just blinks at the little square in her hand and doesn’t seem impressed enough for her liking.

“Ugh. Just look.”

She attaches the square to her temple and pushes slightly. The feeling of the photostatic veil sliding over her face and morphing her features is really weird and she’s sure she’s making a face.

It only takes a few seconds and the square ends up blending with the rest of her face.

Barnes isn’t looking any more impressed than he was a few minutes ago.

“Well?”

“That’s Shield tech.”

“No, it was Shield tech, it’s now been improved upon courtesy of an all-night bender ala Tony Stark.”

Darcy waits patiently as he circles her and studies the mask before finally stepping back.

He still doesn’t say anything, just holds up his metal arm.

Darcy smirks again and pulls the other veil square out of her pocket.

“This one works for your arm, plus you can control the settings with an app.”

Twenty minutes later they’re both heading out the door on the way to Stark/Avenger’s Tower.

* * *

James, no longer the Winter Soldier, notices the very second the lab doors swish open to admit Natalia.

He doesn’t look up as she stops short inside the doors and looks around.

Darcy is showing him something in Jane’s notes and he squints at her writing in the margins. _Ignore her._

He smirks and focuses back on helping Darcy fix an issue with Jane’s work.

To be honest, he’d never expected this. That morning he’d broken into Clint’s apartment and Darcy’s had shown up was like the universe was finally, finally apologizing for all the shit he’d been through.

“Это никогда не будет работать.”

He continues to ignore her and moves over to Jane so she can explain a few things to him.

Out of the corner of his eye he watches Darcy finally acknowledge Natalia.

“This is never going to work,” the redhead repeats in English.

“$100 says differently.”

Natasha smirks and reaches for Darcy’s hand.

“No cheating.”

That causes his eyebrow to raise, the Natalia he remembers would do anything to win, but she agrees no cheating and he doesn’t detect any deception in her face.

“I guess in the vein of no cheating, I should tell you he’s been working in the labs for three months now.”

The faint twitch of her lip is the only indication of displeasure and James has to bite his lip to keep from laughing.

When she clears the elevator, James strides over to Darcy and picks her up.

“You’re amazing.”

Her laughter makes him grin and he can even hear Jane giggling in the background.

“You’re pretty great yourself.”

  


It takes another six months, effectively winning Darcy the bet.

It’s his fault anyway. He’d become so comfortable in the labs with Darcy and Dr. Foster, easily able to assist when Darcy had to check on Dr. Banner or Stark or even go to a meeting with Pepper Potts, that he’d left Darcy’s suite without the mask on.

It happens a little after noon. He’s taking down notes and conferring with Jane about something, Darcy at her desk, when Steve comes striding in, Natalia, and Sam following behind.

“Darcy, I need to get with Tony on something and he’s locked himself in his labs aga—“

He cuts himself off abruptly and just stares.

* * *

Darcy can hear Steve coming. Tony’s being a child and she knew this was coming anyway, since James had left the veil sitting on his nightstand.

She looks up when Steve comes in, starts talking, and cuts himself off.

“I’m aware of the issue, Steve. I’m working on it.”

The Man with a Plan makes a somewhat strangled noise and she glances over at him.

“Buck?”

Her gaze flicks over to where Jane and James are conferring and has to bite down on her lip, hard.

He’s completely ignored the fact that Steve is in the same room, the only concession being his metal hand as it raises and he holds up a single finger, asking for a minute.

“Nat, Sam. Anything else I can help you guys with? We’re kind of busy in here.”

Steve makes another noise and takes a step forward, stopping when Sam puts a hand on his arm.

James finally looks up, expression blank, but Darcy can see the glint in his eyes. Who would have guessed that the Winter Soldier is a troll at heart? Well, from the stories he’s told her probably, Steve, but he obviously can’t see what’s coming.

“Hey man,” Sam says, giving a wave. “You know we’ve been looking for you for a while right?”

James shrugs at him.

“Right. So uh...how long has this been going on?”

With his face still blank, Darcy watches James head over to one of the filing cabinets and rifle through it. He pulls out a small paper and glances at it, another cue he’s trolling- James has a fantastic memory.

“Miss Potts started paying me as a lab assistant about six months ago.”

Sam totally looses it as Steve makes _another_ sound like a dying whale and even Natasha is smirking.

Darcy is about to end his misery, but notices the Boss-Lady standing up. Oh crap. Jane’s got that same look in her eye.

“Look, Mr. Rogers,” she starts and Steve’s response is practically automatic at this point.

“Steve, please.”

“Steve, we’re in the middle of a breakthrough here and I really need to ask you all to leave.”

She quickly ushers the other three out of the labs and has Jarvis lock the doors to visitors.

Darcy is sure that it was only his surprise that allowed Steve to be moved by the petite scientist and she has to crouch behind her desk and let out her laughter.

She’s down there for a good few minutes before James comes to sit next to her and he points out that Steve is sitting on the floor outside the labs waiting.

She gives into her hysterical laughter and after a minute he joins her.

  


It’s an hour later before James musters up the courage to leave the labs. She and Jane watch as he has a rather animated conversation with Steve, with what looks like occasional commentary by Sam, who must have come back.

When he finally comes back inside, he’s smiling and says, “I invited Steve over for dinner.”

"Did you by any chance, tell Steve that we live together?"

James just smirks at her.

Darcy cackles a little to herself as he goes back to work and when she moves a few papers she finds a hundred dollar bill sitting on her desk.


	2. Dinner with Steve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve stands outside of what he's sure is Darcy's apartment...but maybe hers is the one down the hall and this is really Bucky's room?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so very flattered and thankful for all the comments and kudos from the first chapter! Thank you guys so much for reading and now I present the second chapter! There's a little more drama/angst stuff in this one and a hint of Steve/Nat at the end but not enough for me to tag them as a relationship. Enjoy!

Steve stands outside the door of what he could have sworn was Darcy's suite. Maybe, he'd gotten it wrong? She could be in the one on the other side of Thor and Dr. Foster's rooms.

He was gone so often that could very well be the case and he just didn't realize it. He checked his watch for what was probably the tenth time in as many minutes. It’s finally six. He raises his hand to knock.

After a minute, the door is flung open to reveal Darcy.

Steve blinks and glances again at the door down the hall...maybe that is Bucky’s room? He’d been so flustered earlier he could have misheard (his super hearing hadn’t let him down yet, but there was a first time for everything, right?).

“Right on time, Steve-O! Come on in!”

Bewildered, he does as requested and as he enters the room fully he can see Bucky standing at the stove stirring something in a pot.

“Pop a squat, dear Captain. I hope you like chicken mac-n-cheese. I’m showing James how to cook and thought we’d start with something simple that he can add extra flavor too.”

Darcy sails by him and into the kitchen where she joins Bucky at the stove. She whispers something to him and he finally turns around to give Steve a quick wave and a nod, before returning his attention to the stove.

Steve settles down at table and watches Bucky cook with Darcy, stewing for a minute before he speaks.

“So, how long has this been going on?” His voice is a little more biting and bitter than he means it to be.

Darcy takes the pot off the stove and passes it to Bucky, who starts dishing the contents into the bowls on the counter.

“Which part exactly, Steve?” The patience coloring her voice makes Steve flush a little.

“The...” he breaks off and gestures to the pair in general.

Darcy looks over at Bucky, who shrugs at her and continues with his task.

“Well, I found James in Clint’s apartment about nine months ago, he started using a photostatic veil enhanced by Tony to come with me into the labs a week after that, I talked to Pepper and she hired him on. He moved in with me like...two months ago almost.”

Steve starts to sputter again, his anger flaring a little. “But Sam and I were looking for him! For six months we we flying all over the place following leads. Why?”

Darcy spreads her arms wide, wiggling her fingers in a ta-da type motion. “James Barnes, Master Assassin and World’s Biggest Troll!”

Steve stands up so quickly he almost knocks the chair over.

“I know Bucky Barnes better than you ever will,” he hisses.

Suddenly, there’s a blur of motion and Steve finds himself shoved bodily back into the chair. Bucky is looming over him, metal arm clamped on Steve’s shoulder, his face 100% pure Winter Soldier and cold fury.

“Don’t you talk to her like that again or I’ll throw your ass off the balcony.”

Steve opens his mouth but the hand on his shoulder clenches tighter and he can’t do anything to stop what he sees happening.

Darcy’s hand is on Bucky’s shoulder and his spins around, his metal arm shooting out, but she drops like a ragdoll, rolls to the side and pops back up with both hands up.

“It’s okay, James.”

Bucky’s breathing is ragged as he looks at the woman standing inches from him, and then as suddenly as it started, he sags forward a little and Darcy rushes forward to envelop him in a hug.

There’s a murmured conversation and after a few minutes he watches his best friend slink out of the room and down the hall.

Darcy sighs as she drops down into a chair across from Steve.

“Dude. Not cool.”

Steve feels himself deflate and he sinks further into the chair.

“I know. I know. I’m sorry.”

Darcy just nods at him.

“He didn’t have to leave, I can go.”

“Nah, it’s okay. He’ll probably come back out after he talks to Dr. D.”

He must look confused, because she continues with, “His therapist.”

“He’s seeing a therapist?”

Darcy nods again.

“Yeah, he’s seeing the doctor that Clint talked too after the whole thing with Loki. It’s why he wanted to talk to Clint first, because he’s the only one on the team who’s dealt with brain washing. He just happened to be on a mission and I was watering Clint’s plants.”

Steve sighs and he’s sure if she could, his mother would be coming back from the grave to smack him senseless.

“Wait...I thought Clint had fake plants.”

She waves a hand half-heartedly.

“Yeah. It’s a thing.”

After a few more minutes of silence Steve stands.

“Look, I’m just going to go. Tell Bucky to get in touch and maybe we can do dinner again.”

Darcy just looks at him for a long minute and he’s about to walk out when she speaks again.

“James.”

“What?”

“He doesn’t like being called Bucky.”

“But—“

“He says it hurts.”

“What?”

“Being called Bucky is tied with the trigger Hydra put in about killing you. Hearing the name causes him actual physical pain.”

Steve makes a distressed sound, much like the ones he made earlier in the labs.

“It’s okay. You didn’t know, but I wanted to tell you because I don’t think he will.”

“What? Why?”

Darcy shrugs at him.

“He doesn’t want to hurt you.”

“That stupid jerk,” Steve mutters, mostly to himself.

“Thanks, Darcy. I’ll show myself out and maybe we can try this again another time.”

Steve makes his way to his room and isn’t at all surprised to see Natasha sitting on his couch when he gets there.

“How did it go?”

Steve sighs.

“That bad?”

“It was mostly my fault.”

He drops down onto the couch and after a quick gesture lays his head in her lap.

“It was pretty bad from the start because I couldn’t remember which room was Darcy’s, I didn’t know they were living together—”

Natasha snorts as she starts running her fingers through his hair.

 

A floor up and two rooms down, Darcy has herself propped up in bed with James’ head in her lap as he wraps up the call with Dr. D and they sit together in silence.

“That mac-n-cheese is going to be shit now.”

Darcy huffs at him.

“Microwave, my dude, microwave.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to start working on the scene with Clint and Bucky tomorrow but I can't say for sure if it'll get posted tomorrow. This chapter was spur of the minute inspiration and conversation with EBK on facebook about where I wanted the plot to go. So we'll see about Clint and his fake plants ;)


	3. Fake Plants-It's a Thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky is in Clint's apartment when he finally gets back from the mission with Nat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-da! The thing about the fake plants. I hope you guys aren't too disappointed, I feel like I made it a big THING but this is the actual explanation I've had in my head since the beginning for the Fake Plants.
> 
> More feels ahead.
> 
> Also a note that this takes place DURING chapter 1. It's the same day Nat comes to visit the labs.

It’s late when Clint finally stumbles up the steps to his apartment building in Bed-Stuy. The mission with Nat had taken three months and didn’t exactly go as planned, not surprising either of them.

He’s cursing himself for picking an apartment on the top floor to live in and for not getting the elevator working months ago.

The second he opens the door he realizes something is off and his instincts kick in. He drops to a crouch and slowly looks under the couch.

There are feet walking between the fake plants he has placed by the windows.

After a minute the feet walk closer and pause on the other side of the couch. Clint turns his head and spends several minutes staring at the head that’s popped over the edge of his couch to look at him.

“So...” Barnes says.

“Uh. Look man, are you here to kill me? Cause...I’m not sure I’d object right now.”

Barnes blinks at him and Clint watches a myriad of expression flit quickly across his face.

It’s like talking to Natasha.

“No. I’m watering your plants.”

This time Clint is the one to blink in his confusion. He stands up and Barnes backs away from the couch so Clint can see the watering can in his hand.

“You...uh. You know they’re fake right?”

“Yes. Darcy told me, ‘It’s a thing.’ Which Jane explained means it’s a joke.”

Clint isn’t sure why he laughs, it must be a combination of his exhaustion, relief, and the knowledge that Darcy is passing on her trolling skills to Barnes, but he’s suddenly holding himself around the middle, cackling like it’s his job.

He continues laughing all the way to his bedroom, where he shucks off most of his clothing, falls into bed and passes out, still giggling a little bit.

 

He wakes up sometime the next afternoon to the smell of food and he sits up.

There are voices coming from the kitchen, one he recognizes as Darcy’s. He ignores them as he heads into the bathroom and spends about twenty minutes in the shower with the water up as hot as he can get it.

“Heyyo! Birdbrain, food’s ready!” Darcy calls through the door as he’s toweling off.

After a few minutes spent digging for clean clothes, he heads out to find Barnes setting plates down on the table and Darcy following behind him dishing food out of takeaway containers.

Clint waits until after he’s done shoveling most of the food he can get his hands on into his mouth to start talking. (Take _that_ Bobbi! He can learn manners.)

“Is there any particular reason I found the Winter Soldier watering the fake plants in my apartment at one in the morning?”

Darcy turns to look at Barnes quickly, her mouth falling open a little bit.

“You little shit.”

He grins at her and then over at Clint.

Clint snorts.

“Remind me to dump the water out of those later.”

“No bugs this time?”

It’s Barnes that answers, “This apartment is clear of monitoring devices. Is that usually an issue?”

Clint leans back in his chair, getting comfortable. “Not as much anymore. I bought this building last year.”

“From the mob, through dubious means,” Darcy chimes in as Clint waves a hand at her.

“They had some idiot bug the apartment and he put a mic in the fake plants. Kept putting them there, even after I killed them. I saw one on my way out for a mission, so I texted Darcy and asked her to water the plants while I was gone.”

“I was so tired from working almost around the clock with Jane, that it took me three days to realize that the water was building up and the plants were fake. After I left him a really loud voicemail, he told me what the water was for, and now he asks me to check every time he has to leave for a while.”

“That doesn’t really explain why Barnes was here.”

“Oh...I found him sitting on your couch like the night you left.”

“And you what? Adopted an assassin?”

Darcy rolls her eyes at his outrage and Clint cuts a look to where Barnes is sitting in his chair, now angled in Darcy’s direction.

“Well, it’s not like I didn’t adopt you and Nat. Besides, he looked all sad sitting there with a metric fuckton of weapons on the coffee table.”

“I was trying to turn myself in.”

Clint tilts his head and studies the other man for a few minutes.

“Because I know about brainwashing?”

Barnes nods and Clint sighs.

“Fair enough I guess. So, tell me about this.” He gestures between them and listens in silence to Darcy telling him about James, that’s what she calls him, coming into work with her and spending his nights here at his apartment.

Then, Bar—James tells him about the slow process of his memories coming back, how he’s felt safer staying here than with Darcy because he’s alone here and won’t lash out at anyone.

Darcy gets up and heads back to work at some point and he invites James into the living room as they continue their talk.

Clint isn’t even aware of the passing of time, but eventually Darcy comes back with Natasha and more food. They gather round the table and halfway through the meal Clint looks up.

“Hey, how does Cap feel about all of this?”

Darcy and Bucky trade a look and they’re both smirking.

“Currently, Steve is unaware of my new lab assistant and is in one of the Baltic states following a lead.”

Natasha grumbles something in Russian about walking into a loosing bet.

Clint shrugs.

“Whatever, just make sure to mention that part to Dr. D. next week at your first session.”

 

A little over a month later, dinner nights with Nat, Darce, and James have become a thing. Two months after that James is moving his shit into Darcy’s place.

He makes sure to water the plants before he leaves and Clint rolls his eyes as he dumps the water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading! There's a chance I might add a little more to this, but as of right now I'm going to leave it marked finished :)

**Author's Note:**

> EBK asked if I'm going to add more to this and I probably will. I'm thinking James finally gets to talk with Clint and also the dinner scene with Steve


End file.
